The Sakata Family Residence New Storehouse (Shingura)
Cross the garden to the south of the Sakata main house and you reach a two-storey timber storehouse the family called the shingura, the "new storehouse." At roughly nine metres along the ridge and just under five metres deep, it is not large. What holds the eye is how much thought went into a working building. This is a storehouse built with the care usually reserved for a room people live in.
The clue is in the walls. Rather than hiding its frame behind a smooth plaster skin, the shingura sets its pillars close together and lets them show on the exterior. That deliberate density of timber, exposed rather than concealed, gives the surface a rhythm and marks the building as something more considered than a plain shed.
Reading the Construction
The shingura runs east to west and carries a separated roof (okiyane), a construction in which the roof frame sits above the storehouse box rather than resting directly on it, with a gabled form finished in flat pantiles. On the north side is a covered forecourt, the kuramae, the sheltered working space in front of a storehouse door where goods were handled in and out.
The wall finish repays a close look. The upper walls are white plaster; the lower band, the dado, is finished in black plaster (kuro-shikkui). That dark base against the pale upper wall is a common storehouse device, both practical against splashing and quietly handsome. Inside, the walls are boarded. Taken together, the black dado, the close-set exposed pillars and the boarded interior make the shingura one of the more finely built structures in the compound.
Why It Was Registered, and What to Notice
The shingura was registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property in January 2011, one of five Sakata buildings listed together, under registration number 15-0326. Its criterion was contribution to the historic landscape. In other words, it earns its place partly through what it adds to the setting of the farmstead as a whole.
Because the building is viewable only from outside, aim your attention at the exterior detailing. Look for the line where black dado meets white wall, and for the closely ranked pillars carried through onto the outer face. Set against the main house across the garden and the earthen-walled storehouses nearby, the shingura shows how a single family kept several storage buildings of different dates and treated even the newer ones as work worth doing well.
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Q&A
- What does "shingura" mean here?
- It means "new storehouse," the name distinguishing it from the older earthen storehouses on the same grounds. It dates to the early Showa period, roughly the 1920s to 1940s.
- What is the black band along the bottom of the walls?
- It is a dado finished in black plaster. The white upper wall over a black lower band is a common and durable treatment for Japanese storehouses.
- What is the "kuramae" on the north side?
- It is a covered forecourt in front of the storehouse door, a sheltered space for loading and unloading goods.
- Can I look inside?
- No. Only the exterior is open, and it can be viewed at any time. The interior, boarded in timber, is not accessible.
- How does it differ from the other storehouses here?
- The shingura is timber-framed with exposed close-set pillars, while the other two storehouses are of earthen-wall (dozo) construction. Comparing them side by side is part of the interest.
Basic Information
| Name | Sakata Family Residence New Storehouse (Sakata-ke Jutaku Shingura) |
|---|---|
| Location | 295 Kaminodai, Tsuchibori, Gosen City, Niigata Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (registered 26 January 2011; No. 15-0326) |
| Registration criterion | Contribution to the historic landscape |
| Date | Early Showa period (1926–1945) |
| Structure | Two-storey timber, pantile roof; 9.1 m along the ridge, 4.9 m deep; building area 57 m² |
| Count | 1 building |
| Access | Exterior viewable at any time; interior not open |
References
- National Database of Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs) — Sakata Family Residence New Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00008432
- Cultural Heritage Online — Sakata Family Residence New Storehouse
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/169608
- Gosen City Official Website — Sakata Family Residence
- https://www.city.gosen.lg.jp/organization/21/7/1/1/1869.html
Last verified: 2026.07.07